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CA: Gay Couple Ask 9th Circuit to Hear Defense of Marriage Act Case

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Just days after the Justice Department filed an appeal of a ruling declaring the federal ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, lawyers for a same-sex couple at the center of a bankruptcy dispute upped the ante by asking the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take the case.

The Justice Department appealed the bankruptcy-court ruling Monday that declared the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. Such appeals of bankruptcy-court decisions would be heard by the U.S. District Court.

But lawyers for the couple involved in the bankruptcy case are seeking to skip that step and go right to appeals court.

Full Story from the Wall Street Journal

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

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Department of Justice to Appeal DOMA Bankruptcy Ruling

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

In a surprising move, the United States Trustee for California — an agent representing the United States and the Department of Justice in Bankruptcy court — has appealed a ruling in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California which found Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

The June 15 ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge, Thomas Donovan, in the largest Bankruptcy Court in the country, found unconstitutional the 1996 law which bars Federal recognition of same-sex unions, even where such unions are legal. The ruling added yet another Federal court victory to a list of several such victories against the law. The ruling was in response to an intervention by the U.S. Trustee into a case in which a same-sex couple legally married in California in 2008 jointly filed for Bankruptcy.

Prior to the ruling, the U.S. Trustee had initially argued the Chapter 13 filing be thrown out, and that Gene Balas and Carlos Morales file separately as DOMA dictates. The Judge disagreed with the Justice Department, and decided to allow the couple to file jointly. The ruling was given even more weight when an unprecedented 19 of the other 23 judges at the court signed on to the decision.

Full Story from The Washington Blade

Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.